Remember Us by Blake & Beckner

Do you have dreams about doing some pretty scary stuff? Quitting the job you hate – taking that dance class you have been eyeing – leaving your phone number for that cute guy in yoga class – taking the yoga class… I could go on. But you know what I am talking about – the thing you daydream about hoping that one day you will get the courage to actually do something about that pit in your stomach?

Well, that is exactly what the writing team of Blake and Beckner did. They chased their dream, and wrote “Remember Us.” It’s a humorous & poignant story about family - explores love, loss, & the unexpected beauty of forgiveness where "Parenthood" meets "This is Us" with a side of "Arrested Development" dysfunction.

  

And they need your help to get to the next phase of their dream: publication. Click HERE to pre-order your copy of the book. I promise you won’t regret it.

I have known the “Blake” from Blake & Beckner since high school. I have always seen her as someone who chases her dreams – as crazy as they may seem  - and this book is no exception. And I love supporting dreams! So, while I admit that I have not finished the book (kid #2 threw me for a loop, guys), what I have read I love and I think you would love it too.

I love talking to authors about their experience writing as well as getting to know them on a personal level. Their answers were amazing and I am excited to introduce you to this dynamic team:

About you:

What are your names?

Beckner: Layne Beckner Grime

Blake: Lindsay Blake Grimes

We are both LBG!

How did you meet?

Beckner: We met in Kona, Hawaii, training for a volunteer program. (Nice, right?!)

Blake: We both worked/trained/volunteered with YWAM, and international missions organization. We traveled the world for 2.5 years with 9 other girls from 4 different countries. We traveled through 36 countries documenting the lives of those we met.

We experienced the beauty and discomfort of community. We ate thousands of meals together, spent hundreds of nights dreaming together, and crossed tens of thousands of miles on planes, trains, and automobiles. And at one point in our travels we went from friends to sisters. Nearly a decade later, we still have a group text with those girls.

About the book:

What are the origins of this story?

Blake: I was living in South Africa, not even a year into motherhood and Layne was building her photography business with her husband in Canada.

Beckner: One day Lindsay messaged me and said, “We should write a book together,” and I said, “Sure.”

Blake: It’s possible Layne was on her second glass of wine because she said yes!

How did your co-writing process work?

Beckner: When we started, we used to email a document back and forth. But sometimes we had different versions of Pages, so I’d send it to Linds, but the document wouldn’t open for her because I had the updated version of Pages and she had the older version or whatever.

Blake: I’m slightly embarrassed to even talk about this because I literally just googled “when did google docs start” and it was in April of 2012, well before we started writing. We didn’t start using google docs until maybe two years ago when Layne “discovered” it.

What kind of research did you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning this book?

Blake: Is this a trick question? Do authors research before they write a book? #kiddingnotkidding

Beckner: For better or for worse, we just started writing!

Blake: We had no idea what we were doing, we just knew we wanted to write. Activator is in my top 5 of Strength Finders so I like to learn along the way if you will. Most of our research came during the process. Right or wrong, we just dove in. It’s been a HUGE learning curve and we are better writers because of it.

Did you pull from personal experience for some of the characters and situations they experienced?

Beckner: Yes and no. I think some things in human nature transcend through all stories - hope, hurt, love, disappointment. I think I’ve walked through the gamut of human experiences and understand them on at least some levels and see (very different experiences) that led to the same emotions in our characters.

Blake: Here and there I think I see bits of us in our story. I think everyone will find parts of their story within the pages we wrote because it’s about family, and all the hurt and joy that can come from those relationships.

Did you follow a clear outline or did the story evolve as you wrote?

Blake: Outline? What is that?

Beckner: No, no, no and a thousand times no we did not follow a clear outline. We actually stopped writing at some point. We got to the “end” of the book, looked at each other and said, “Now what?” I think we had around 36,000 words at the time, which is about half of what you need for a book.

Blake: I remember getting to a point where Layne was just done. I’m fairly certain she said she hated our book.

Beckner: It was bad, Really Bad. I made Linds sad because I hated it. After that we stopped writing for a year or more.

Blake: But Layne didn’t give up on me or the Hamiltons and we pushed through. She came down to Omaha where we drank wine and edited our book together. I remember nights where I yelled, “BORING” while we read out loud to each other. I am sure the wine was talking but it was telling the truth. We took out 35,000 words in those three days and while we didn’t start completely over we obviously had a ways to go.

What is one thing you would like your readers to know before they start reading this story?

Beckner: Great question! That this book is a dream come true.

Blake: And I hope in some small way they feel inspired to act on their own dreams. That it doesn’t need to look pretty (because our process certainly didn’t), but taking the jump is worth it.

Beckner: I also would love for our readers to know that we were only in the same town for three days during the process.

Blake: I also want our readers to enjoy our book. I want to them to grab a glass of their favorite beverage and get lost in the story of the Hamiltons for a few hours or days. They are a quirky, slightly dysfunctional, hysterical group of individuals.

Did you hide any secrets in this books that only a few people will find?

Beckner: Haha. You caught us.

Blake: Remember the girls we traveled with for those 2.5 years? The girls that became sisters? They, plus a few more of our nearest and dearest are named somewhere within the pages.

What did you edit out of this book?

Blake: I think the real question here is what didn’t we edit out of this book?

Beckner: At one point we deleted the last third of the book. Later we deleted another third. I think there are only 2 or 3 original passages left!

Blake: We have another google document of sections we took out because we still love the writing but it didn’t serve the story anymore.

Also we started with 6 POV. Yes, you read that correctly, S-I-X. We cut that in half.

For fun:

What is the first book that made you cry?

Beckner: Rilla of Ingleside (I’ve probably read it 7 times and cried 6 of those times.)

Blake: I’m pretty sure the very first is Where the Red Fern Grows. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it now.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

Beckner: Writing in the midst of “real life” has been the hardest part for me. My full-time job is photography which takes a lot of my time - as well as my creativity.

Blake: Writing while being a mom and small business owner. We launched our campaign on January 26th, which is the end of month hustle for me, and I can’t remember the last time I washed my hair, and half the time I don’t really know what clothes I’m wearing when I’m racing out the door to drop off and pick up Carsen from preschool or swim lessons.

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Blake: Layne and I have another book written, that we’ve edited once. But it needs probably 20 more edits and a lot more wine. I promise I’m not a lush.

I also have two books just started but definitely ones I want to keep working.

Beckner: I have another fully-written book and then dozens of opening sentences, plot outlines, and quotes I’d like to use on notes.

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

Blake: Carsen said I am a panda bear. So we will go with that.

Beckner: Yessss. Hmmm. A wolf! Because they are introverted, intensely invested in the state of their friends/family, creative, and complex.

And don’t forget – you can help by pre-ordering a copy of their book by clicking HERE.